Relax and save this Holiday Season

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This post is part of
the HEALTHY ESSENTIALS®
2014 program by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. and
The Motherhood, who sent me a box of products and compensated me for
my time. Opinions, experiences and photos shared here are all my own,
and I hope you enjoy them.

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The holidays are upon us, and that usually means lots of shopping, baking, cooking, wrapping, running around, and last minute everything! That of course usually comes with a ton of stress as well, and sometimes indulging in way more sugar then we otherwise would.

I’ve got you covered though with the help of Johnson & Johnson’s Healthy Essentials, I can indulge (and so can you!) during this busy time of year, but with a whole lot less guilt. Did you know Splenda® makes a brown sugar blend? Neither did I until now. I’m so glad I found it though. It has made the immense amount of cookies I’ve baked and eaten a little less guilty. I decided to try out some homemade caramels this week, and they turned out wonderful!

Seriously, I love caramels. I’ve never made them at home before, because well, that’s a lot of sugar that I would end up eating. I may have been a bit too excited about the Splenda Brown Sugar…but it just totally made me smile. Are you ready to indulge in half the calories this season?

Homemade Caramels

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 2 TBS Splenda Brown Sugar

1/3 cup salted butter

1/3 cup Corn Syrup

1/3 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a pan. Cook over medium heat, while constantly stirring. When it starts to boil, cook for another 2-5 minutes. Or drop a little into a bowl of ice water. It if forms a good ball, you’re ready. Remove the caramel from the heat. Pour into a buttered 9×9 pan. Allow to cool completely. Cut, and wrap in either wax paper or plastic wrap.

Now that I have a plate full of caramels (and I may have made a second batch and just poured it into a jar for ice cream topping…), I can sit back and relax tonight. With other products like Neutrogena’s long wear makeup, and Clean & Clear’s Night Relaxing face wash, I can truly relax this season. I may have a lot of running around to do still, and many more lines to stand in at the post office, but I don’t have to let those things stress me out.